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August 26th is Women’s Equality Day, Yet Women Are Still Not Equal

Today, August 26, we celebrate Women’s Equality Day and mark the 89th anniversary of women’s suffrage. As we celebrate the victory of those who faced legislative roadblocks, public scorn, and imprisonment in order obtain the right to vote, we must also honor their lives by continuing the work they started and ensure that women achieve full equality.
The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 marked the birth of the women’s suffrage movement in the United States. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and other prominent suffragists signed the Declaration of Sentiments demanding the right to vote. After 72 long years, national and state-by-state campaigning led by Alice Paul, Carrie Chapman Catt, and others, the Suffrage Amendment was finally ratified on August 26th, 1920. Today we honor the women and men who worked to ensure women won the right to vote – to have a voice in policies and legislative decisions affecting their lives. Progress has been made in the past 89 years, but much work lies ahead.
IWPR research shows that women still earn less than men in almost all occupation categories and the ratio of women’s to men’s median weekly earnings for full time workers has experienced three consecutive years of decline. Recently, IWPR’s Dr. Heidi Hartmann pointed out that women hold jobs that are least likely to receive benefits, retirement savings plans, or pensions.
You can honor the triumphs of suffragists on Women’s Equality Day by joining with IWPR to further the progress of women. Help IWPR provide fact-based, women-centered research to advocates, policy makers, and the general public. Learn more about the work IWPR is doing, become a member, and join with us in the continued fight for equality.